caroline
by sugariest
Summary: a gorgeous woman, you're beautiful. and he wants her to be his – inosai university au, told in snippets and parts


summary: a gorgeous woman, you're beautiful. and he wants her to be his – inosai university au, told in snippets and parts

notes: based around aminé's caroline, but this is **not** a song fic. i haven't written naruto fic in forever, but i love this pairing too much not to have written anything about them.

i do not use capital letters when writing, it is a stylistic choice.

* * *

 **i. bad thing, fine as hell, thick as fuck**

ino was all curves and soft skin, and even though sai wouldn't openly comment about it like some of the people he knew (kiba, mostly and almost always kiba) he did appreciate it. no he never voiced it, not verbally at least, but always with subtle looks and touches when it was just the two of them.

he also liked it when ino yelled. when she got bossy and pushy and wouldn't take no for an answer in certain situations. it was different from when sakura did it–when sakura did it he found it the most annoying thing ever–but when ino did it he found himself watching, all too intensely as she yelled at someone about one thing or another.

if you got deep in to his subconscious, you'd find out that he thought it was hot.

he would never say it though, not in a million years.

instead he'd just watch, sipping his tea as she argued with deidara about how even if trends were cyclical, there were somethings that were never going to make a comeback. the way her voice got louder and she got more passionate about the argument.

and then she swore. cursed. something that she rarely did and sai suddenly found himself choking on his tea. as he cleared his throat, he could've sworn he caught ino looking at him with an all too knowing look in her eyes.

 **ii. don't want to hear about your horoscope or what the future holds**

"what's your sign?" ino was supposed to be studying. sai was too. they had a Japanese art history exam, and they were going to proof read each other's essays. it was why they had come to the library together. except, ino was doing everything but studying.

looking up from his computer screen, sai glanced at ino, somewhat unamused by her inability to prep her essay. they had actually been doing poorly in the class, both missing the class multiple times since 'we're both artists, we don't actually _need_ to go to class.' it was all ino's idea if you asked sai, and that was why they were here now. and it was because of it, sai just ignored her.

it wasn't like she didn't know it anyway. she was the first person to ever actually make a deal out of his birthday anyway.

"so, you're a sagitttarus." ino continued on as if sai had actually answered her and turned her attention back to her computer.

"what time?" sai gave ino a look again. he had been lucky enough to avoid her entire astrology thing that she had been on lately. it was something she and sakura had been indulging in far too much, and he wasn't interested.

so he ignored her again.

"oh come on. don't you think it would be fun?" ino was pouting, kicking one of her legs up from under the table in an effort to other sai just a bit more.

"why would it be fun?" his expression blank, hoping that this got across just how uninterested he was in the idea.

"well, we could know just how compatible we really are." ino offered, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him.

"does it matter?" he knew ino's answer would be yes.

"of course it does. what if it turns out we're not compatible at all? then what."

a pause. sai could see her eyebrows wrinkling. and ino could see that smile crossing his face.

"if we're not compatible, then we'll just break up." sai spoke coolly, his smile still resting on his face.

there was another pause, and he could see ino working through what he said.

"you don't have to take it so seriously, it's just a joke, god, it doesn't matter if we're compatible or not, I like you and that's all that matters." ino huffed just a bit as she turned her attention back to her computer.

 **iii. don't want to talk it out, can we fuck it out**

" _just talk to her, sai_." once again, sai was on the phone with sakura talking about this damn ino issue. part of him really just wanted to block sakura's number and be done with it. he had done it many times before, but this time, he couldn't actually bring himself to do it. granted, he would laugh at sakura's advice, or just generally disregard it, in the back of his mind he was trying to take note and see if any of her ideas or suggestions would actually work.

rather than responding to sakura, he simply hung up his phone and turned his attention back to the empty page in his sketch book, trying to take his mind off of the situation between him and his girlfriend.

they had gotten into an argument, over something incredibly trivial, and then it turned in to something bigger. and like always, sai simply told ino that she was right, and he was wrong. that always worked and got her to drop the subject. they would both go do something else to cool down, and then regroup later for a dinner and sex. it worked well that way, for both of them.

this time, it didn't actually follow that pattern though. when he said that she was right and began to turn his attention back to what he had been working on (a new calligraphy piece, some family's motto that he had been commissioned to do) ino became angrier. not the usual angry that he had been used to, where she yelled and got upset and maybe even cried. no, instead she got silent, and left sai to do what he was doing.

it was an odd reaction, but sai paid it no mind.

it took three days for sakura to tell him that ino was still mad at him. and he was honestly surprised, because he had not noticed. well, he noticed that she had been a bit distant from him, but he concluded that it was due to her working on another project. she often got like that when she had due dates that were close.

so he had approached the situation, in an almost awkward manner.

he had promptly gotten an earful from sakura the next day about a text message was not the best way to talk to ino about it. she then accused him if he had taken a page from naruto's (or worse, kiba's) book on how to be a bad boyfriend. he told her maybe and then hung up her call.

that had happened about four days ago.

he hadn't actually talked to ino in about a week, sai realized. they had had small talk, conversations about things that they needed to do–like pick up cat food or wash the dishes in the sink–but not actually talked.

it was sai's fault though, and he knew that. he wasn't entirely sure how to talk to ino. well, he knew how to talk, but not how to _talk_. not in the way that sakura was saying he talk to ino. he had seen it in romance movies, and even read it in novels. the big moment where the two characters talk it out and then ride off into the sunset like happy fucks.

but he didn't know how to have that conversation with ino.

putting it all in to words, telling her how he felt, and what he understood about the situation. it was almost foreign to him, and it was hard. harder than he had actually thought it would ever be. he didn't really get the concept of having a 'heart to heart', like ino and sakura did whenever the two had gotten in to a fight, and spent their time making up. there would be wine, and telling each other their true feelings, and then the next day the girl's would be back to normal like always.

and sai, couldn't really see himself sharing a glass of wine with ino and dishing all about what he was feeling. he was fairly certain that ino couldn't really envision the same thing either.

"i'm home." ino called out when she entered their small apartment. she had complained about it when they first moved in, how there wasn't enough room for this or that and how they should've totally just taken her dad's advice about living farther away from campus (and closer to her parent's house) so that they could get a bigger place.

but now, it was home. and ino made sure to voice that every time she entered the apartment.

ino had entered their kitchen, encountering her boyfriend who was surrounded by art magazines and a bowl of, now soggy, cereal. looking up at her, he gave her the small smile, expecting her to go about as she had done for the past week now.

and she did. ino went about making her own bowl of cereal (they needed to go grocery shopping soon if they were both eating cereal for dinner), and joined him at the table, her eyes on her phone as she ate. when she finished she got up and placed her bowl in the sink, ino finally turned to face sai.

"look, we need to talk." this was the most she had spoken to sai in the past week and he turned around to face ino, his bowl of soggy cereal forgotten completely by now. he waited for ino to say something, but instead she gestured to sai.

oh.

it was clear that she meant _he_ needed to talk to her, and he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about what to say or do. again, he was meeting the fact that he wasn't really sure of what to say or how to express his feelings in a situation like this, and all he could do was keep that smile on his face like always.

his silence wasn't appreciated by ino, as she crossed her arms over her chest, and pouting just a bit. that pout made sai smile a genuine smile. and ino knew that real smile and she could feel her anger flaring up once more.

"are you serious, sai? I haven't talked to you for a week, you have nothing to say to me, and you can only _smile_ when I finally start talking to you? don't you know that I'm upset with you? that i want us to have a serious talk about what the other day?" ino was frustrated, and tired. she hated that this is how they always talked and dealt with arguments. she wanted them to have a real talk about why they got into a fight. for sai to stop with step two of the pillow method and for them to actually talk.

blinking at ino's outburst, sai let the smile fall from his face. she was upset, seriously upset, and he still didn't know exactly what to say about her. he was never good with words. or showing his emotions the way that she wanted him to. getting up, sai made his way over to ino, and reached to brush her hair behind her ear.

"i'm sorry." there was something in his voice that made ino understand that he was serious. that she had only ever heard at certain moments from him. however, she didn't get a chance to comment about it, to try and probe further, as sai pressed his lips against hers.

this time, he was going to let his actions and body do the talking for him. to show ino just how much he understood.

 **iv. cause we're gonna be all night, fuck a decaf**

pizza, chicken, coke cans and cups of coffee sat strewn around the floor of neji's apartment. he had somehow agreed to host their group's, end of the year finals are coming study session and he wasn't necessarily happy with how they were treating the apartment. the only thing that they had truly agreed to do was use coasters for the table. he should've just said no. he should have told them that they couldn't use his pristine apartment.

hell, he should've kicked them out when they showed up. but he hadn't. and now he had to deal with the consequences of the situation.

observing the situation of all his friends, he could feel his eyebrow twitch just a bit. tenten and lee were decidedly not studying, instead working on some dance routine with each other, and he knew that he had to keep his distance, otherwise he would be dragged into it or worse.

as his gaze turned, he caught of shikamaru and chouji, shikamaru had already fallen asleep and chouji was scarfing down what was left of the pizza. he wasn't necessarily surprised about the two's actions, shikamaru was a genius who, no doubt, was unconcerned about the exam and was probably going to ace it anyway. and chouji had already shown everyone what he was going to work on for the next week. as a culinary student, he excelled and they all knew it would be fine for him.

so he let the two of them be, knowing that messing with them or trying to get them to leave would make the situation worse.

his surveying of the room continued, he saw sakura and hinata both helping naruto and he couldn't help but feel bad for them. both of them had big exams in the upcoming week (he could see the bags under both sakura and hinata's eyes) and instead they were taking time out of their studying to help naruto with his. undoubtedly he was struggling with something stupid and trivial, but he had promised hinata that he would get at least a c in al of his classes, so here he was. trying his hardest.

leaving the trio be (though, he made sure to keep a note of where naruto's hands were, and he had to check back in on them to make sure that his hands hadn't wandered or sakura hadn't murdered him) he set his sights on kiba and shino. he could feel his eyebrow twitching as he looked at them.

kiba, despite neji's repeated insistence that he wasn't allowed to bring his dog in his apartment, had brought the dog, claiming that he couldn't study for his psych 420 class without akamaru (and a chuckle at saying the words 420). shino, without even offering an explanation or telling him ahead of time had brought a small terrarium with beetles in it.

and neji didn't question it. he didn't know what shino needed them for, and frankly he didn't want to know.

when his eyes fell on ino and sai, the couple whom had nestled themselves on the corner of the couch he–

wait.

where were ino and sai?

he hadn't heard them leave and had definitely come in like the others, so it didn't make sense for them to have disappeared. it was to his horror that he heard them, making their way out of _his_ bedroom, as if they hadn't been in there doing god knows what. neji was afraid to turn his head and see what they were doing, but he had to, and he really wished he didn't.

ino was adjusting her shirt and ponytail and sai was following behind her, that same stupid smile on his face. when ino spotted neji staring wide-eyed at her, she flashed him her own smile, as if nothing wrong had happened.

"what were you two doing?" neji was thankful that his monotone voice didn't betray the horror that he was feeling and possibly about to experience.

"us? oh sai needed me to pose for him, and since we didn't want to be disturbed we just went to your room." ino offered her cool explanation as she made her way over to the couch, retrieving her laptop so she could continue writing her paper about french fashion trends in the 1900s.

neji knew though. he knew that he was going to have to burn his bed and sheets. he just knew it. and it was that fucking smile on sai's face that gave it away.

 **v. if you want safe sex, better use the knee pads**

"hold on, i need to grab a condom." pausing his actions, sai sat back on his knees, taking a moment to admire the work of art that was ino herself. her hair splayed out along the pillow, her skin lightly flushed with a red tinge.

"it's fine." her voice was light and needy and sai had to blink at her assertion. ino was always the one who pounded the importance of condoms. well her and yamato.

sai had to blink a few more times because he really didn't need the image of yamato in his head lecturing about condoms. not right now when he was in his underwear and his girlfriend naked beneath him.

"are you sure?" he knew most guys would be jumping at this opportunity, but it was in his nature to be cautious. neither of them would be prepared for any negative repercussions of not using protection.

"i love you." and she pulled him down, her lips pressing against his, giving him all of the reasons why she was okay with it.

 **vi. cause great scenes might be great, but i love your bloopers**

if there was one open secret amongst their circle of friends, it was that ino couldn't cook. she could bake her ass off, sure but when it came to actual meals, she was the worst. usually, chouji made the meals for their get togethers and everyone would be fine. when ino did cook, it was always the bare minimum, usually green vegetables that had almost no taste or seasoning.

sakura had told sai in a hushed voice that it was left over from when ino was in high school and was 'sick'. when he asked why her baking was okay, sakura explained that when ino baked it was for others, but when she cooked it was for herself. and sai didn't ask any more questions about it after that.

still though, ino tried to cook. for both of them, and she would try to add more than just vegetables. so when he came home to ino in the kitchen, trying her hardest to make chicken for the two of them, he just smiled at her. a real smile.

he then pulled out his phone and ordered take out instead. ino frowned, obviously upset that she couldn't actually do this for him, despite how much she had wanted to.

"how about you make us a salad to go along with it though?" it was a simple suggestion, and his eyes were on the phone, but he could feel ino's smile from where he stood.

 **vii. and perfects for the urgent, but i want forever**

opening the small velvet box, sai looked at the ring inside, staring hard at it before he closed the box once more. he had looked at it so many times since he bought it and tried to strength to actually ask ino to marry him. he wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation or even the conversation with her, despite the fact that she had been "dropping" hints about getting married to him more than once.

or in ino language, dropping hints meant that she was literally telling him that she wanted to get married to him.

but she was waiting for sai to actually ask her.

and he didn't quite actually understand why they couldn't just count their multiple conversations as them being engaged. she said that that wasn't how it worked, and that she wanted him to ask her to marry him, properly, and she wanted it to be perfect.

it was always perfect with ino.

she spent her mornings, at least two hours getting ready for whatever she had to do that day, dressed in the right outfit, her hair straight and pulled into a tight _perfect_ ponytail, and her face skilfully painted with colours and designs that almost made sai envy her skills.

she was perfect, and she wouldn't take less than perfect for herself.

it almost made sai envious of naruto and sasuke and their relationships. hinata would accept almost anything from naruto as long as he put thought into it, and sakura would really take anything from sasuke. thought behind it or not. but he knew that he was far too incompatible with either of the girls to date them.

and he liked ino's perfectionist ways. it was charming. to know that she put this much effort in to everything that she did.

except for now. right now he hated them because he couldn't quite figure out how he was supposed to "pop the question" and do it in the perfect way that ino wanted him to do it.

truth be told, sai wasn't used to initiating things between him and ino, simply because she had done everything first. she was the one who asked him to hang out for the first time, just the two of them. she was the one who initiated the first kiss. hell she was the one who did the pursing for the major part of the relationship, and sai went along with it all.

sakura had told him that ino wasn't really used to doing things like that, which was why she had pushed for sai to really propose, in a serious manner. and then sakura had suggested that sai take ino out to a nice dinner and propose to her that way. it would be simple and perfect. and sai found it clichéd and boring, but he had given sakura that same smile that he gave her when he actually hated the idea or suggestion that she had given.

giving a heavy sigh, sai placed the small box back into his bag and began packing up his art supplies. it was late, he had been in one of the art rooms on campus, but hadn't gotten any work done, and instead spent his time staring at the ring and thinking about how he was going to actually propose. this was getting under his skin and it was actually starting to bother him.

his phone's loud ringing pulled him out of his thoughts, recognizing the ringtone as sakura's, sai considered letting it go to voicemail, but he knew that if he did she would just call him back and keep calling until he answered. she was persistent like that.

"what?" he answers his phone in a bored tone, already expressing that he wasn't interested in what she was going to say to him.

" _sai, did you forget?! we're supposed to be having dinner tonight–"_ sakura was cut off as sai simply hung up the call, uninterested in hanging out with her and naruto tonight. he really didn't want to watch naruto inhale food and then talk with his mouth full.

like clockwork, his phone rang again and he answered again.

" _first of all, don't hang up on me again!_ " he could feel sakura's anger radiating through the phone, and it made sai smile, just a bit. it was always nice to get under sakura's skin like that.

" _anyway, everyone is coming. even temari and karui, so you better be there_." it was more a warning about how ino would be, reacting to her two best friend's girlfriends, and he could already feel tired. he didn't want to go, but now he had to.

* * *

he was the last to arrive to the little get together at their usual korean barbecue place, and it was already well under way. they were on their third round of meat, and there were already five bottles of soju littering the table, but he couldn't tell exactly who had been drinking it.

"sai, sai!" naruto was the first to call out for him, and there went sai's chance to turn around and leave. he gave his usual fake smile before settling into the seat next to ino–it had been saved for him.

pleasantries were exchanged, and sai indulged in them, answering the how are yous and asking them in return. so far, ino seemed to be getting along with karui and temari for the night, and he was almost afraid of what that meant for him, so he simply decided not to question her or bug her.

"so…" ino held up her shot glass as hinata offered to pour her a shot, filling the small glass with the clear alcohol. sai could only glance at ino, knowing that was following that so was something that he didn't want to hear. she had been drinking, and that meant sai didn't know what to really expect. so he just grinned as he filled his plate with meat, mentally preparing himself for the worst.

"hinata and naruto are moving in together!" sakura took the wind out of ino's sail, her own cheeks a red tint, showing that she had had the most of the alcohol. no doubt she was upset, since her (on-again, off-again) boyfriend was off on his own, traveling the world and doing only god knows what.

her own jealousy, of the two love birds at the end of the table's advancement in their relationship was apparent. and that meant ino was jealous too. as if he knew exactly what was happening, kiba filled a shot glass for sai and he knocked it back in the blink of the eye. this was going to be a long night.

"how surprising. you know, living with other people tends to make their flaws more obvious, hopefully you two make it together." sai made the slight jab at ino, for their first few months as a couple that lived together was an absolute disaster. where ino was messy and disorganized, sai was meticulous. it took them forever to finally get into the groove.

it was a mistake to make that comment, because drinking ino had no need to hold back about anything.

"you know, I always took hinata for the type of girl that would get _married_ before she moved in with someone." the emphasis on the word made sai tense just a bit, but it was masked very well. he didn't make any comments in response, and instead reached into his bag. slipping that small velvet box out of the bag he placed it on the table with a resounding thud.

there was no words from anyone as they looked at the box. it was silent, and kind of awkward, and totally took away from hinata and naruto's news. it wasn't perfect, the way that ino wanted it it have been. but it was perfect for them.

 **viii. don't you see that i want you to be mine**

"let's go on a date." sai's words pulled ino's attention from her note book, her western art history notes momentarily forgotten.

"we are on a date." ino offered the other before looking back at her notes. she could feel her face heating up just a bit as she tried to regain her place in her notes. sai's words had caught her off guard.

"no, as far as i know, this is just 'hanging out' or a 'study session', as you called it. i would like to go on a formal date with you." sai was still getting used to this thing, but according to the books he had read on the subject, this wasn't what a date was supposed to be like. there was supposed to be food, drinks, a movie, and then he was to walk ino to her doorstep and kiss her.

or at least that's what movies he had seen about it had shown a date was supposed to be like.

ino looked up from her notes, her composure regained once more and she eyed him for a bit, looking at his face and trying to read his expression, see if he was tricking her. but sai had a good poker face, a damn good one. so all she had to do was agree and hope to god he was for real.

"alright." she kept her eyes on him, watching for even the subtlest change in his demeanour or expression.

"excellent. i will pick you up at eight on friday then." and with that, sai turned his attention back to his own notes.


End file.
